Sunburn
by Keirou
Summary: Ten-year-old Stein has a strange redness to his skin. Whatever could it be, and will Spirit be able to help?


He was red. Stein blinked at himself in the bathroom mirror, vaguely confused. Most of his skin – well, that skin that wasn't usually covered by clothing – had taken on a vivid red color and felt oddly hot and tight. It was uncomfortable and strange, and he had absolutely no explanation for it. That in itself was unheard of. Turning, the ten-year-old boy padded silently down the hallway to his partner's room. Spirit would more than likely still be asleep, but he was the only one Stein had to ask about this strange turn of events.

On reaching the door, Stein paused a moment and debating knocking. Then he just opened the door. It wasn't as though he'd see anything that bothered him, after all, and he really did need to ask Spirit about this. And besides, the red-headed weapon was still fast asleep and wouldn't have heard the knock anyway, curled up in his blankets like that. Stein crossed to the bed and shook Spirit's shoulder. "Senpai." His partner shifted but didn't wake. Stein shook him harder. "Senpai, wake up."

That seemed to work. Spirit blinked up at him blearily, then jerked back with a surprised yelp. "Stein! What the hell are-...why are you all red?"

"That's what I was going to ask you," Stein said, looking at the older boy. "It feels strange and it sort of burns..."

"Burns?" Spirit echoed, shifting forward to take a better look. Then he sighed. "...Were you outside much yesterday?"

"All day."

"All da-...you know, I don't want to know. Did you use sunscreen?"

"...sunscreen?"

"..." Spirit covered his eyes with one hand. "You spent all day yesterday outside, in the sun, and you didn't put sunscreen on?"

"...No." Stein blinked at him, vaguely confused again. What did that have to do with anything?

"You're sunburned." Spirit told him. "Honestly, Stein, I'd think you'd at least know enough to put sunscreen on before doing something like that..."

"You never use it, and you don't get sunburned." Stein replied, matter-of-factly.

"Yes, but I also go outside on a regular basis." Spirit shot back.

Stein glowered at him. "You don't use it, why should I have to?"

"Oh for-...Look, Stein, our skins deal with sunlight in very different ways." Spirit held up his arm for Stein's examination. "I've got some tan, while you've got prison pallor."

"...I have not."

"You never go outside, Stein. Yes, you do."

"I'm just naturally pale."

"And you never go outside. Either way, you're more prone to sunburn than I am."

Stein stood in sulky silence for a moment, then shifted uncomfortably. "It hurts..."

"Well yes," Spirit said, getting up and running a hand through his hair. "It's a burn. Burns hurt. Come on."

Stein blinked up at him, following as Spirit headed out into the rest of the house. "Where are we going?"

"Kitchen."

"Why?"

"Aloe."

Stein cocked his head. Aloe in the kitchen? Aloe was a plant, wasn't it? Why should it be in the kitchen?

His answer would come soon enough, as Spirit made a beeline for the fridge and pulled open the freezer. The red-head pulled out several small lengths of fleshy green plant and handed them to Stein. Stein blinked at them. "...What's this?"

"Aloe," Spirit said, as if it should have been obvious. "It'll help."

Slightly skeptical, Stein held one of the lengths against his skin. The cold was soothing, but that wasn't what was needed, was it? Examining the lengths, he set most of them on the counter and carefully split one down the middle. Inside was a frozen, going-to-be-sticky mess. He carefully rubbed it on a bit of the visible burn and jerked it away quickly, swearing in a rather long string of words.

Spirit raised an eyebrow at him. "Impressive."

"Shut up. You said it would stop the burning!" Stein glowered up at him accusingly.

"I said it'd help. And it will, give it time. And don't press down so hard, gimme that." Spirit took the aloe out of Stein's hand and proceeded to run it over the sunburn. Stein flinched away initially, but Spirit grabbed hold of his shoulder. "Don't be such a baby," the weapon chided, continuing his work. The teenager's touch was gentle, in direct contrast with his harsh, lecturing tone, and he soon had all of Stein's sunburn covered in aloe. The young meister blinked up at him, relaxing as the plant's soothing effect kicked in. "Better now?" Spirit asked, tossing the last bit of aloe in the trash.

"...Yes. Thank you." Stein glanced down at what burn he could see. "When will it go away?"

"Not for a few days. You'll need to reapply the aloe as your skin soaks it up," Spirit told him. "And my mother always said that taking a tea bath helped too. The tannins or something."

"Tannins?" Stein echoed, looking back up at his partner. "To tan the skin? Does that mean I'd end up with skin like yours?"

Spirit chuckled. "I doubt it. Besides, a tan wouldn't suit you anyway." He reached out to ruffle Stein's silvery hair fondly. "Just remember sunscreen next time, okay?"


End file.
